Up to Noosa and into the "Deep North"

The sound of rain patters—no, pounds—on the tarp that stretches over our canvas tent at “Takarakka Bush Resort,” located in the Carnarvon Gorge. The drive here was harrowing. Philip had to navigate our rental car down a rutted dirt road and through three swollen creek crossings. We made it just fine, but needless to say, we were on edge, especially since the deductible for any damage done to the vehicle is 3,000 dollars. Yikes! When I made our reservation at Takarakka, I mentioned we’d be driving a sedan, and the woman who spoke with me said that would be no problem. Clearly she has a greater tolerance for the potential of being swept away by rushing water than we do . . .

So, let me catch you up on what else has happened since our last post. During our last few days in Brisbane the students took two exams and gave their research project presentations. All of the projects dealt with relations between humans and the environment in one form or another. For example, one student spoke to us about the late-20th century transformation of whale hunting into whale watching, a second about the role of Aboriginals in bush fire management, and a third about the collective response of workers at a wholesalers’ market in Brisbane to the recent Queensland floods. Other topics ranged from the depiction of nature in contemporary Aboriginal art to (largely unsuccessful) campaigns to exterminate invasive species. All in all, the students did a great job. I was proud of them.

Before leaving Brisbane, Philip and I also found time to take a tour boat up the river to the Lone Pine koala sanctuary. For the entire ride we were treated to canned commentary over the boat’s loudspeakers, which included such knee-slapping jokes as the following: “Sharks can be found in this stretch of the river. We have fishermen who try to catch them. We call them water skiers, and they use live bait. Nah, just kidding . . . (guffaw).” Along the way we saw some beautiful homes—as well as the remains of destroyed docks that had been ripped from their moorings by the floods and deposited onshore.

At the sanctuary we couldn’t get enough of the koalas. These impossibly cute creatures spend four hours a day eating eucalyptus leaves and twenty hours sleeping. Philip told me he was jealous.

Last week we also managed to make two visits to Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), which has a truly outstanding collection. We were impressed not only by the world-class quality of the works on display but also by the museum’s efforts to make its exhibits accessible to children as well as adults. GOMA, we salute you!

On Saturday we left Brisbane for our second week of independent travel. We were a little sad to leave behind our comfy apartment and say goodbye to our wonderful apartment managers Tracey and Robert, who had taken good care of us throughout our stay (for example, they lent us their barbie and installed an outdoor light in our garden so we could use it after dark). Little did we know we were about to experience even greater hospitality—thanks to B&B owners Ron and Warren, who hosted us in their beautiful home in Noosa (called “Homestay at Noosa”). Noosa is an upscale surfing town (think Malibu) about a two-hours’ drive north of Brisbane on Queensland’s so-called “Sunshine Coast.” I say “so-called” because it was overcast on our first day at Noosa and rainy on the second. Fortunately our B&B was so nice (see pictures below) and our hosts and their friends such good company that we didn’t mind lounging around.

We didn’t stick around the house the entire time, however. On our first afternoon we managed to stroll down the beach and take a hike through the nearby national park. Ron was sweet enough to pick us up at the end of the trail, allowing us to hike its entire length instead of having to double back before dark. When we returned to the house Warren served a gourmet meal, complete with champagne (or “bubbles,” as Warren calls it) and fine wine. Two of their friends, Brenda and Jo, were visiting from Melbourne, and they were loads of fun. They reminded us of Edina and Patsy from the show Absolutely Fabulous, except they were nice instead of nasty. Decked out in designer clothes and jewels, they downed one glass of wine after another as Jo regaled us with stories of her travels around the world—including one that involved dancing with her mother on a tabletop in Paris. All of us drank too much and stayed up too late, but it was no big deal because we spent the following day lazing about the house. After a second fun evening and fantastic breakfast, we reluctantly hit the road. I’d say that Ron and Warren made us feel right at home except for the fact that their place was soooooo much better than home. Sigh . . .

From Noosa we drove north and west for six hours. Two of our favorite things along the road: a small sign reading “Horse poo 2 dollars” and a giant orange welcoming us to the town of Gayndah (see photo below). At the end of our journey into Queensland’s “deep north,” we arrived at Koombit Station in Biloela. The station is part working cattle ranch and part tourist attraction. Over the years Lewis and Clark groups have stayed there, but we’d left it off our group itinerary this time around in order to accommodate our trip to Broken Hill and the Murray-Darling river basin. Curious to see what this year’s group had missed, Philip and I decided to spend the night. The no-nonsense station owner showed little interest in chitchat (what a contrast to Ron and Warren!), but he did take me on a short tour of the property and explained what students had learned there in the past. We then had dinner on an enormous wood-planked table along with a tour group of 20-somethings from England and Denmark. That was followed by a lesson from the station owner on how to crack a whip. Apparently cowboys used to crack whips during cattle drives to get herds moving. Philip got the hang of it pretty fast—dominatrix in the making?—but I didn’t manage to make much noise. Turns out I’m only good at cracking the whip figuratively, not literally.

After our night at the station, we spent another long day driving, this time to the Carnarvon Gorge.  As I mentioned earlier, the last stretch was pretty nerve-wracking. On the plus side, a bunch of kangaroos were hanging out by the side of the road, and for the first time since we arrived in Australia, we got to see one with a baby (called a “joey”) in its pouch. Awww . . .

On that note, I’ll sign off. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll see better weather!

~Andy

Entrance to our Brisbane apartment

One of the beautiful homes along the Brisbane River

At Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

Hanging out at the sanctuary

The sanctuary has emus too.

And kangaroos . . . 

Entrance to our B&B in Noosa

B&B living room

Not minding the rain outside

Still not minding the rain outside

The B&B pool

Beach at Noosa before the rain arrived

Surfer at Noosa

Drive-thru liquor store: doesn't get more Australian than that!

No caption necessary, right?

Who said there's no culture in the deep north?

Wallabies welcome us to Carnarvon Gorge

Getting around Brisbane

Well, we've reached our last few days here in Brisbane, and before we leave I thought I'd share a little bit about the city and post some photos of the area.

If you don't know, Brisbane is a river city, similar to Portland, and even though the populations of their metropolitan areas are about the same, Brisbane feels much bigger (and has a little more going on). In fact, I have to admit that Australian cities have spoiled me. There's an energy and a liveliness about them that Portland is somehow lacking. Even Brisbane, which is the third largest city in Australia, after Sydney and Melbourne, has a much busier and energetic downtown core than Portland. I'm not sure if it's the usually sunny weather (there are heaps of outdoor restaurants and cafes) or the fact that they've just done a really good job attracting people into the CBD, but it's going to take some time to adjust when I get back to Portland, which at the moment sounds dreary and boring. Okay, enough about that. (Have I mentioned I'm in love with Australia?)

Andy wrote a little bit about it in an earlier post, but back in January, Brisbane's river flooded and covered much of the CBD and many of the residential neighborhoods along its banks with several meters of water, leaving behind massive damage and a big mess. By the time we arrived it looked like most of that mess had been cleaned up, though we saw repair work happening on a few pieces of parkland along the Southbank and on some of the underground parking garages. In fact, the city recovered so quickly that, at least at first glance, it's hard to tell there ever was a flood. Without looking closely at some parts of the river bank where wharfs are broken apart and thrust up on shore and ferry stops have been completely washed away, you really wouldn't notice the damage that occurred. One thing that hasn't recovered is the color of the river, which is still a muddy brown from all of the debris and silt that washed down from upstream. (We did learn today, however, that the river is often brown because of its tidal qualities: it changes direction up to four times a day, stirring up mud and silt as it goes.)

Something that Brisbane has done (and that Portland could do) is utilize the river for public transportation. They have a great fleet of 17 catamarans called "CityCats" that serve as ferries between the CBD and the many suburbs along the river. The CityCats, along with 9 smaller ferries that travel back and forth across the river at several points, provide a fun and efficient way to get around the city. An interesting fact about the CityCats is that each one has the Aboriginal name of one of Brisbane's suburbs.

Brisbane has a lot of great suburbs close in to the CBD, including the West End, which has a rich Indigenous history, Fortitude Valley, now home to Brisbane's club scene, and New Farm, which is where Andy and I are staying. We're in a great spot within walking distance of Fortitude Valley, lots of good restaurants and shops, and New Farm Park, home of the Powerhouse, Brisbane's very cool venue for music that is currently running the month-long Brisbane Comedy Festival. (We've seen one performance so far, and it was great!) We're also close to public transport, including the New Farm CityCat stop, which means we can get to our lectures in South Brisbane either by boat or bus. There's something really nice about starting and ending your day with a boat ride on the river.

Tomorrow we'll be going to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary to see more of Australia's cute endemic species, including kangaroos, wombats, echidnas and, of course, koalas. I'll let Andy tell you about that and post some pictures in the next blog.

~Philip

Brisbane from Mt. Coot-tha

The Story Bridge from the CityCat

The CBD from Southbank

New Farm Park . . . just a couple of blocks
from our place and great for boomerang
practice!

Our local bowls club

Our CityCat stop

One of the CityCats picking us up for class

Mangrove swamp on the riverbank next to
the Botanic Gardens

Our apartment at the Allender

A few shots from the Botanic Gardens:

Those are tiny, orchid-like flowers blooming
from within each opening of the stalk.

The Japanese garden

Look closely and you'll see massive golden orb spider
webs stretched above the walkway. Hopefully you can
see that their webs really are golden!

And here's one up close. Believe it or not, they actually
catch finches in their webs and eat them. I
decided not to post that picture for the sensitive
viewers . . .

The elephant apple that almost took Andy out as we
stood under the apple tree saying, "what if one of those
fell on you?"

These guys are everywhere in the parks. In fact,
we have one that lives in our garden at the apartment . . .
he's startled me more than once as I've stepped off of
our veranda.

A bottle tree, which stores water in its trunk
in order to survive the drought conditions.

Sport: Rugby vs. Lawn Bowling

We just finished our second week here in Brisbane and this past weekend Andy and I had the chance to get out and experience two of Australia's best-known sports (well, okay, one is better-known than the other), Rugby League and lawn bowling!

As a follow-up to our lecture on sport (they use the singular here) as part of Australia's culture, Nat got the group tickets to the Rugby League season opener last Friday night. It was the Brisbane Broncos vs. the North Queensland Cowboys, and before the game Nat gave us a quick rundown of the rules so we'd know what we were watching. The game is composed of two 40-minute halves and played by two teams of 13 on a field a little larger than an American football field. Here's how wikipedia describes it:

"Frequently cited as the toughest, most physically demanding of team sports, the objective in rugby league is to carry or kick the ball towards the opposing team's goal line where points are scored by grounding the ball; this is called a try. After scoring a try, the team is allowed the chance to try at goal with a conversion - a kick for further points. The opposing team will attempt to stop the attacking side gaining points by preventing their progress up the field by tackling the player carrying the ball."

The main rules are that you cannot pass the ball forward and all members of a team must stay behind the player with the ball, or "on-side." Each team gets six tackles (or chances to stop the progress of the ball towards the goal). A tackle is completed when that player's progress is halted, or he is put to ground. As soon as it is obvious he has been halted, the tackled player puts the ball immediately back into play by rolling it backwards with his foot to the teammate behind him. An attacking team gets a maximum of six tackles to progress up the field before possession is changed over. Ball control is also important in rugby league, as a fumble of the ball on the ground forces a handover, unless the ball is fumbled backwards. The ball can also be turned over by going over the sideline. One of the things that makes the game so exciting to watch is that play rarely stops. As soon as the sixth tackle happens, the other team grabs the ball and starts working its way down the field towards the goal. It moves much quicker than American football, as the clock rarely stops.

There are two other codes that are played in Australia: Rugby Union and Aussie Rules Football, and in each region of the country, one of them tends to be favored over the other. There was a huge turnout for our game . . . a little over 45,000 people packed the stadium, which has a capacity of 50,000. Of course during the games there are many beers consumed (this is Australia after all), but surprisingly very little violence breaks out, and it seems like the Aussies have a lot of fun with the rivalry between fans. I'm already making plans to find out how I can watch the games online from the states.

On Saturday Andy and I met up with Nat and her partner, Ken, to participate in a sport of a gentler nature: lawn bowling! This sport has a long history in Australia, but used to be enjoyed only by the old-timers who dressed in their neatly pressed whites. Beginning about 10 years ago, lawn bowling started to become trendy with the hip crowd, and there are now greens in all of the cool neighborhoods. In fact there's one just down the street from our apartment in New Farm.

Before we arrived at the green, Nat and Ken took us for a drive to the top of the tallest mountain (hill, really) in Brisbane, Mt. Coot-tha, for a view of the city. Brisbane is a hard city to orient yourself to because of the way the river zigzags through it . . . it's hard to figure out exactly which side of the river you're on at any given moment. Seeing the city from above helped to get a feel for how it was laid out. After a few pictures and a little souvenir shopping it was off to bowl.

The green Nat picked for us is called Booroodabin, but is affectionately known as The Boo. It's located in the Newstead suburb and has been in operation since 1888; it's Queensland's oldest bowling club. After a few pointers from the staff we got started . . . barefoot and beers in hand, Ken and Nat vs. Andy and Philip. I'm proud to say that Andy and I lost by only a few points . . . not bad for our first time! The object of the game is to get as many of your balls as close to the "jack" (a small white ball placed at the other end of the lane) as possible by rolling them down your lane. The lanes have no markers or barriers between them, so it gets pretty entertaining when your balls start crossing into your neighbor's lane and vice versa. Andy and I have decided we need to bring lawn bowling to Portland . . . a plan is in the works.

It's Sunday night now, and after a lazy day in which we walked to James Street, yet another cool neighborhood close to us, we are gearing up for another week of lectures. Hope everyone is safe and well at home.

~Philip

Rugby League game at Suncorp Stadium

The students cheering on the Broncos

Ken, Nat and I at Mt. Coot-tha

Andy and I with Brisbane in the background

Brisbane from Mt. Coot-tha with the coastline
in the far background

Here's a look at how the river winds its
way through Brisbane.

The Boo!

Nice form, Andy!

Trying to visualize my ball rolling to the
left, where it's supposed to be rolling!

Nat multitasking

He didn't spill a drop of his wine.

Nat confirming that yes, all three of the closest
balls are theirs.

Ken planning his next move . . .